Although in use since the 15th century, paper cartridges filled with black powder were not patented until 1808. People were forced to carry separate containers of black powder, bullets and wads that separated the powder from the shot.

Muzzle-loading a musket required multiple steps, but a well-trained soldier could load and fire it two or three times a minute. Generally, a small amount of loose powder was poured into a measure and then down the barrel of the gun. A lead ball was placed on the muzzle of the gun and then shoved down the barrel. A small amount of powder was placed on the firing pan, which was located between the cock and the frizzen. The cock was pulled back, the frizzen was closed and the weapon was ready to fire.

Powder flasks were made of different materials, most often copper, silver, wood, bone and leather. While the early ones were plain, the decorated ones with embossed geometric designs or hunting scenes that were displayed on one or both sides of the flask became very popular. By the 1860s, powder flask production was an increasingly industrialized process and factories produced flasks for hunters and the military. Some of the notable ones include The American Flask & Cap Co., Robbins and Lawrence Company of Windsor, Vt., Samuel Colt, James Dixon & Sons G. & J. W. Hawksley or Bartram & Co.